Match Report

Greg Kiltie scored twice as Kilmarnock preserved their top-flight status in emphatic fashion with a 4-0 victory over Falkirk.

Kiltie and Miles Addison turned the Ladbrokes Premiership play-off final on its head inside eight minutes at Rugby Park and Killie had the game wrapped up by the 65th minute as Kiltie and Boyd scored in quick succession.

Manager Lee Clark had urged the Kilmarnock fans to cheer his side on to safety and they responded as a crowd of 11,013 - including about 4,000 away fans - created a memorable atmosphere.

Kilmarnock have shipped four or more goals on six occasions this season - five of them at Rugby Park - but they turned the tables as they swept aside the Championship runners-up to extend their stay in the top flight beyond 23 years.

Falkirk had taken a 1-0 advantage in first-leg stoppage time, but it was gone inside three minutes on Sunday.

Josh Magennis, who missed the opening tie because of a hamstring strain, got round the outside of Luke Leahy to the byline and cut it back for Kiltie, who took a touch and drilled home from 14 yards.

Tom Taiwo and Craig Sibbald could not trouble Jamie MacDonald with efforts at the other end and Kilmarnock soon struck again after Lee Hodson's cross into the six-yard box.

Tope Obadeyi did enough to force the ball back across goal as he rose with Aaron Muirhead and Addison bundled it over the line.

Falkirk looked stunned and they gave the ball away too often in the Kilmarnock half to trouble their opponents, who had another half chance when Kris Boyd got a couple of yards on centre-back Paul Watson. The former Scotland striker volleyed well wide with his left foot.

Falkirk striker Bob McHugh got a free header on the half-hour mark but could not hit the target from 16 yards. The chance settled the visitors and they began to pose a threat. Craig Sibbald produced an acrobatic effort from John Baird's cross but it was straight at MacDonald.

Killie had a glorious chance 10 minutes into the second half. Danny Rogers parried Lee Ashcroft's header following Craig Slater's free-kick and Obadeyi headed the rebound over from two yards, although the ball flashed up at him quickly.

Falkirk brought on midfielder Blair Alston and striker Lee Miller but they fell further behind in the 62nd minute. Obadeyi sprinted past Muirhead and cut the ball back for Kiltie, who only needed one touch this time as he drove home.

Comments

Lee Clark: "I'm proud of the players for delivering a performance like that under pressure. We have been the better team in both legs, no doubt about it. It was a tough pill to swallow on Thursday. We would have been disappointed with 0-0, but when we got hit with the sucker punch it was tough to take.

"But we just relaxed them in the last two days. We knew the performance had been good enough so we needed the same again.

"We went for a walk along the beach at Troon towards the golf club on Saturday and had some bacon and egg rolls. We didn't train, we took them in the minibuses to Troon and thankfully the weather was nice."

"It was a huge result because I don't know what the implications would have been on the football side, I know my own position was fine because I've started my recruitment already and I knew what I was doing with the squad before the two legs.

"But usually when clubs get relegated good people behind the scenes are the first to lose their positions. I take that personally as a manager because I don't want to see good people leave like that. So that's a big weight off my shoulders, the last few days have been tough.

Despite the resounding win, Clark - who revealed Josh Magennis had gone off with fatigue and not a recurrence of his hamstring strain - has promised a big overhaul in the summer.

"And that's not being disrespectful to the lads who produced fantastic for me," he said." But you've got to be ruthless. I know where I want to go and we are making inroads on players as we speak."